WORKSHEET A1
TITANOSAUR
Part 1. Warm-up
- Do you like dinosaurs? Why / why not?
- What do you know about dinosaurs?
- Where do you think scientists find dinosaur bones?
Part 2. Vocabulary focus
Part 3. Reading – Titanosaur
Scientists in Argentina think they found the bones of the biggest dinosaur in the world.
They found many very large bones in a place called Patagonia. Patagonia is in the south of South America. It is a very big area, but not many people live there. The land is dry and quiet.
The bones are very old. They come from a dinosaur called a titanosaur. Titanosaurs were some of the largest animals that ever lived on Earth. They had very long necks, long tails, and very big bodies. They walked on four legs and ate plants. They needed a lot of food every day.
A long time ago, many different dinosaurs lived on Earth. Some of them were called sauropods. Sauropods looked similar to titanosaurs. They also had long necks and long tails. However, their necks were usually longer and lighter. Scientists think that sauropods lived earlier, and later titanosaurs appeared.
Titanosaurs were different in some ways. Their neck bones were stronger and more solid. Their bodies were also more flexible. This helped them move and survive. Scientists do not know exactly why titanosaurs became so big. This is still a mystery.
Scientists find dinosaur bones in many places around the world. They have found fossils in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and even Antarctica. Sometimes they find only one or two bones. Sometimes they find many bones together.
Scientists use these bones to understand what the dinosaur looked like. They study the size and shape of the bones. Then they try to imagine the full skeleton. This is not always easy, because many bones are missing.
In 1987, a farmer in Argentina found a very large bone in the ground. He did not know what it was, so he told scientists. Scientists came to the area and started working. They spent many years digging and studying the bones.
They found more bones in the same place. These bones belonged to a new dinosaur. Scientists named it Argentinosaurus. This dinosaur was extremely big. It was about 30 to 40 meters long. It was one of the biggest dinosaurs ever discovered.
Scientists think Argentinosaurus moved slowly because it was so large. It probably walked at a slow speed. They are not sure how it held its neck. Maybe it kept its neck up to eat leaves from tall trees. Or maybe it kept its neck more horizontal, closer to the ground.
In 2014, scientists found another very large dinosaur in Patagonia. A farmer found part of a leg bone sticking out of the ground. Scientists came and worked for many months. They found over 200 bones in total.
Some of these bones came from six different dinosaurs. This new dinosaur was called Patagotitan. It was about 37 meters long and very heavy. It was one of the largest land animals ever found.
Even today, scientists are still finding new dinosaur bones. Recently, they found more bones of another titanosaur. They found parts of the tail and hips. These bones are very large, and scientists think this dinosaur may be even bigger than Patagotitan.
However, scientists are not sure yet. They need to find more bones before they can confirm this. The place where the bones are is difficult to reach, so the work takes a long time.
If this dinosaur is bigger, scientists will give it a new name. Discoveries like this help us learn more about life on Earth a very long time ago.